Georgia's security deposit cap
Georgia rule: for leases entered or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, O.C.G.A. § 44-7-30.1 bars a security deposit above two months' rent. At $1,850 rent the ceiling is 2 × $1,850 = $3,700.
Count everything refundable: under § 44-7-30(3) security deposits include pet deposits and advance rent deposits. So $2,000 plus a $500 refundable pet deposit is $2,500 and fine; $3,000 plus $1,000 is over, as is a single $3,900 deposit. The cap is non-waivable.
The 30-day return
Under § 44-7-34(a) the landlord must return the full deposit, or the balance with a written statement identifying the exact reasons for retention, within 30 days after obtaining possession. Possession on March 3 makes the deadline April 2.
Two deadlines are distractors. The move-out damage list is due within three business days under § 44-7-33(b). The 90-day rule covers only funds mailed to the last known address and returned undelivered, which then become the landlord's.
Treble damages
Section 44-7-35(c) makes a landlord who wrongfully withholds liable for three times the sum improperly withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees: withhold $600 improperly and the tenant recovers 3 × $600 = $1,800.
Only the improperly withheld amount is trebled, not the whole deposit. The landlord escapes trebling only by proving a bona fide error despite procedures reasonably designed to avoid it. The exemption in § 44-7-36 does not apply when management including rent collection is done by third persons for a fee. Wear and tear is never deductible.
Eviction and retaliation
Georgia rule: under § 44-7-50(c)-(d), added by the Safe at Home Act for leases entered or renewed on or after July 1, 2024, a landlord must first deliver a written three business day notice to pay or vacate, posted in a sealed envelope conspicuously on the door and by any other methods the rental agreement requires. Payment in time bars the filing.
Changing locks is illegal self-help. Sixty days is the tenancy-at-will period, not a lease default. Cutting off utilities is unlawful under § 44-7-14.1 until final disposition of a dispossessory proceeding, fine up to $500.
Section 44-7-24 presumes retaliation when the landlord acts within three months of a good-faith complaint about a life, health, safety or habitability concern. The tenant recovers one month's rent plus $500 — at $1,400 rent, $1,900 — plus court costs, and fees if willful. Retaliation is also a defense to the dispossessory action.